US to execute mentally ill man
21/8/08
Texas is scheduled today to execute a mentally ill man for conspiracy to murder in a case that death penalty opponents say illustrates why the practice is deeply flawed. Jeffery Lee Wood, 35, “has never taken a human life by his own hands,” and “was outside the building in a car at the time of the murder,” his lawyers said in a statement. Wood’s partner in crime, Daniel Reneau, was executed in 2002 for killing a store manager during a robbery. “At Reneau’s trial, the prosecution had argued that Reneau was the person chiefly responsible for the crime and that Wood’s role was secondary,” the Death Penalty Information Centre said. “Wood was involved in the robbery in this case because of his longstanding mental illness that allowed him to be easily manipulated by the principal actor, Daniel Reneau,” his lawyers argued. Texas is the top executioner in the United States, with 413 executions over the last 30 years, out of a national total of 1,119 for that period.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/us-to-execute-mentally-ill-man/2008/08/21/1219262382115.html
Tags: Capital Punishment, USA